| Methane is the simplest member of the paraffin
hydrocarbons, some other members being ethane, propane, butane, pentane,
hexane, heptane, and octane. |
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Methane or "marsh gas," is a colorless, odorless
gas. Its abundance in nature is increasing. It is the chief component of
natural gas and is the product of the anaerobic decomposition of plant matter
underwater. Methane gas is produced in significant quantities in those
agricultural areas where rice is cultivated. Sewage and garbage disposal
procedures produce a gas which is also rich in methane. |
| Since commercial natural gas is composed largely
of methane, methane and natural gas may be considered as being identical.
Because of methane's low cost, abundance, ease of handling and cleanliness, it
has been used chiefly in homes and indusrty as a combustible fuel. |
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Methane is produced industrially by the
destructive distillation of bituminous coal in the manufacture of coal gas and
coke-oven gas. Coal carbonization and coal distillation are important in
locations where natural gas is not plentiful and have made the coal industry a
part of the petrochemical field. These two industrial processes are significant
for the future when natural gas sources have become depleted. ( source, The
Encyclopedia Britannica) |
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